Publications by authors named "Audrey B C Coumans"

Aim Of The Study: Outcome of fetuses, prenatally diagnosed with sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT), is still poorly documented. This study assesses the incidence and prenatal predictors of outcome in all fetuses prenatally diagnosed with SCT.

Methods: This is a retrospective study on all fetuses prenatally diagnosed with SCT from 1998 to 2018 in the Netherlands.

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Increasingly, high-risk pregnant women opt for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) instead of invasive diagnostic testing. Since NIPT is less accurate than invasive testing, a normal NIPT result might leave women less reassured. A questionnaire study was performed among pregnant women with elevated risk for fetal aneuploidy based on first-trimester combined test (risk ≥1:200) or medical history, who were offered NIPT in the nationwide Dutch TRIDENT study.

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Objective: To evaluate the clinical impact of nationwide implementation of genome-wide non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in pregnancies at increased risk for fetal trisomies 21, 18 and 13 (TRIDENT study).

Method: Women with elevated risk based on first trimester combined testing (FCT ≥ 1:200) or medical history, not advanced maternal age alone, were offered NIPT as contingent screening test, performed by Dutch University Medical laboratories. We analyzed uptake, test performance, redraw/failure rate, turn-around time and pregnancy outcome.

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Objective: To evaluate preferences and decision-making among high-risk pregnant women offered a choice between Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT), invasive testing or no further testing.

Methods: Nationwide implementation study (TRIDENT) offering NIPT as contingent screening test for women at increased risk for fetal aneuploidy based on first-trimester combined testing (>1:200) or medical history. A questionnaire was completed after counseling assessing knowledge, attitudes and participation following the Multidimensional Measure of Informed Choice.

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Background: Implementation of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in Down syndrome screening programmes requires health policy decisions about its combination with other tests and its timing in pregnancy.

Aim: Our aim was to aid health policy decision makers by conducting a quantitative analysis of different NIPT implementation strategies.

Methods: Decision trees were created to illustrate all plausible alternatives in a theoretical cohort of 100,000 pregnant women in five screening programmes: classical screening by the first-trimester combined test (FCT), pre-selection of high-risk women prior to NIPT by the FCT, NIPT as the first screening test at 10 weeks and at 13 weeks, and the simultaneous conductance of NIPT and the FCT.

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Objective: Intrauterine infection is suggested to cause perinatal brain white matter injury. In the current study, we evaluated whether S100B, a brain damage marker, may be also assessed in maternal bloodstream after white matter injury induced by fetal intravenous application of lypopolisaccharide (LPS) endotoxin.

Methods: Fourteen fetal sheeps were chronically catheterized at a mean gestational age of 107 days.

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Objective: Intrauterine infection is suggested to cause perinatal brain white matter injury. The aim of the present study was to clarify, whether intravenous application of endotoxin results in neuropathological findings and increased blood levels of the S100B protein, which is a consolidated marker of brain injury.

Methods: Twenty-one fetal sheep were chronically catheterized at a mean gestational age of 107+/-1 days (0.

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Objective: To study endotoxin induced changes in pulmonary blood flow during normoxia and hypoxia and analyzed the role of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin (ET) in this process.

Study Design: Twenty-seven fetal sheep were chronically instrumented at 107+/-1 days (term is 147 days). Experiments were performed 3 days after surgery.

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Objective: To investigate the role of nitric oxide in the process of circulatory decentralization during fetal hypoxemia.

Methods: Fifteen sheep with singleton pregnancies were chronically instrumented at 107 days of gestation (term is 147 days). Three days later, 8 of the fetuses received nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis.

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There is a growing body of evidence from clinical and epidemiologic studies that in utero exposure to infection plays an important role in the genesis of fetal or neonatal injury leading to cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease. Thus, after chorioamnionitis the incidence of immature neonates with periventricular white matter damage and periventricular or intraventricular hemorrhage is significantly elevated. Recent clinical and experimental data support the hypothesis that a fetal inflammatory response links antenatal infection with brain white matter damage and subsequent motor handicap.

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Perinatal brain damage is associated not only with hypoxic-ischemic insults but also with intrauterine inflammation. A combination of antenatal inflammation and asphyxia increases the risk of cerebral palsy >70 times. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of intracisternal (i.

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